A GARDENING enthusiast has discovered one of Britain's natural wonders - growing on a Stockport industrial estate.

Nature lover Bob Biggs, 51, found a purple orchid blooming on a grass verge at the Newby Road Industrial Estate as he walked to his home in Hazel Grove.

The flower - thought to be a rare spotted orchid - is now being inspected by conservation experts at Stockport Council so that it can be classified.

Mr Biggs said: "I was very surprised to see it there. What an unusual place for such a beautiful flower to be growing."

His discovery comes as a new guide is published to help identify British and Irish wild orchids which have been described as "the supermodels of the plant world".

Some species ape animals such as spiders, lizards and bees to entice insects to pollinate them.

Botanists consider orchids to be at a very high risk, as revealed in the new guide - The Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great Britain. Author David Lang has been on a 30-year quest to find each of the 51 orchids in Britain.

Bizarre shapes

He said: "I find them fascinating for the colours and bizarre shapes and secretly vowed that one day I would find them all."

Dr Andy Brown, English Nature's chief executive, said: "Orchids are the real extroverts of the plant world. You don't need to go to a hothouse to see exotic blooms.

The lady's slipper orchid is one of the rarest in Britain. It usually has one flower, made up of a yellow, slipper-shaped lip surrounded by five maroon petals.

The orchid was a target for collectors in the 19th century and is now listed as "critically endangered".

Its growth has traditionally been restricted to limestone areas in the North.

Last year, a plant was stolen from Silverdale Golf Club in Lancashire, where it had been closely protected for 20 years. It is thought that the roots survived.